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The practice of yoga is thousands of years old, but has
endured and evolved because of its physical and mental benefits. Find out what
yoga can do for you, with as little practice as a few minutes each day.

Learn more about the biggest reasons to try yoga, and how to
use to improve your health and well-being, even if you’re not interested in the
spiritual aspects of it. The wide variety of yoga schools provides plenty of
chances to pick the right type of yoga for your lifestyle.

1. Stress Reduction

One of the most important benefits of yoga is improving your
stress management skills. Focusing on the present can help you relax and reduce
stress hormone levels. By letting go of the outside world as you practice yoga,
you’ll also be able to develop a better focus, alongside all the benefits of
stress reduction, which include a boost to your immune system.

2. Weight Loss

Getting to your target weight and sticking to it is achieved
by burning more calories than you’re eating, but that doesn’t mean that only
vigorous exercise helps. One of the best reasons to try yoga is the fact that
it can aid you in your weight loss efforts, whether you go for a more demanding
type, like hot yoga, or the more traditional flow yoga.

3. Pain Management

Whether you’re dealing with chronic pain or just neck or
back pain caused by sitting at your desk for too long, yoga can help. Many yoga
poses can help you strengthen your muscles and relax. Practicing the right type
of yoga can help you manage pain or even get rid of it altogether quickly if you’re
only having temporary issues.

4. Increased Flexibility

By working out your core muscles, yoga can improve mobility.
Wanting more flexibility is definitely one of the best reasons to try yoga.
Most types of yoga can help you get better muscle control and can also increase
the elasticity of your tendons and ligaments if you practice the right poses
regularly. The practice of yoga can also increase flexibility that’s been
reduced by pain.

5. Confidence Boost

While the stress reduction benefit of yoga can help you get
more focused, it can also result in a confidence boost. Learning to relax and
really get in touch with your body and mind can have great effects on your
self-esteem, allowing you to discover a more confident side of yourself. By
practicing yoga, you’ll also benefit from reduced anxiety, which is especially
important if you’re struggling with depression or you’re just going through a
rough time.

6. Healthier Eating

If weight loss is one of the reasons to try yoga, then you’ll
be happy to know that yoga poses do more than just burn calories. Once you
start practicing it regularly, you’ll be a lot less likely to overindulge in
junk food or use food as a stress management tool.

7. Cardiovascular Benefits

Lowering your blood pressure and heart rate are just some of
the cardiovascular benefits of yoga. Regular practice of yoga can also improve
circulation, which is especially important if you’re suffering from type 2
diabetes, and it can also contribute to better oxygenation while you’re working
out.

8. Better Posture

Even if you don’t need increased flexibility or pain
management, one of the reasons to try yoga is the fact that it can help you
maintain a better posture. All types of yoga include a wide variety of poses
that help you tone every muscle in your body and improve body alignment.

9. Improved Quality of Sleep

Yoga’s power to relax you and lower levels of cortisol, the primary stress hormone, is very
beneficial when you’re dealing with sleep issues. Practicing a few poses before
going to bed can help you unwind and get in a restful mood, increasing the
quality of your sleep by relaxing both your body and mind.

10. Quick Results

In order to get the most benefits of yoga, you don’t have to
commit to a schedule similar to working out at the gym. One of the reasons to
try yoga is that you can start noticing the positive effect it has on your body
with just 5 minutes every day. If you’re planning on losing weight or dealing
with pain issues, you might need more, but you don’t have to commit to a
demanding schedule.